Even though Central Library is closed for renovations, the popular “Books Sandwiched In” book review series is keeping the pages turning.
Each Monday, March 10-April 21, 12:10-12:50 p.m., enjoy hearing enlightening book reviews of today’s most compelling and relevant novels at Oklahoma Methodist Manor’s Fleming Center, 4135 E. 31st St. You may bring lunch as you enjoy the program.
March 10 • “Eisenhower:
The White House Years” by Jim Newton
America’s 34th president’s reputation has improved since he left office. At the time often seen as a bland, listless executive, he now frequently ranks among the top 10 presidents in many historians’ listings. Dwight Eisenhower was bequeathed the atomic bomb and refused to use it. He stimulated the economy to lift it from recession, built an interstate highway system, turned an $8 billion deficit in 1953 into a $500 million surplus in 1960. He was a moderate who sought reasonable solutions to the issues of the day: the Soviets, the Chinese, nuclear policy, etc. Author Jim Newton reveals the forces, both international and domestic, that confronted his presidency. Reviewer: Eldon Eisenach, retired chairman of the political science department, University of Tulsa, and Friends board member.
March 17 • “The Patron Saint
of Lost Dogs” by Nick Trout
Dr. Cyrus Mills returns to his hometown after inheriting his father’s failing veterinary practice. Cyrus intends to sell the practice and get out of town as fast as he can, but when his first patient – a down-on-her-luck golden retriever named Frieda Fuzzypaws – wags her way through the door, life suddenly gets complicated. With the help of a black Labrador gifted in the art of swallowing underwear, a Persian cat determined to expose her owner’s lover as a gold digger, and the allure of a feisty, pretty waitress from the local diner, Cyrus gets caught up in a new community and its endearing residents, both human and animal. Sensing he may have misjudged the past, he begins to realize it’s not just his patients who need healing. Reviewer: Wayne Hardy, Books Sandwiched In chair and dog lover.
March 24 • “The Supremes at Earl’s
All-You-Can-Eat” by Edward Kelsey Moore
Meet Odette, Clarice and Barbara Jean. Earl’s All-You-Can- Eat is home away from home for this inseparable Plainview, Ind., trio. Dubbed “the Supremes” by high school pals in the tumultuous 1960s, they weather life’s storms together for the next four decades. Through marriage, children, happiness and the blues, these strong, funny women gather each Sunday at the same table at Earl’s diner for delicious food, juicy gossip, occasional tears and uproarious banter. With wit and love, style and sublime talent, Edward Kelsey Moore brings together four intertwined love stories, three devoted allies and two sprightly earthbound spirits in a big-hearted debut novel that embraces the lives of people you will never forget. Reviewer: Laura Raphael, a Tulsa City-County Library readers’ librarian at South Broken Arrow Library and Your Next Great Read library service co-creator.
March 31 • “The Girls of Atomic City:
The Untold Story of the Women Who
Helped Win WWII” by Denise Kiernan
At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tenn., was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians – many of them young women from small towns across the South – were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few ever would guess the true nature of the tasks they performed in those factories in the Appalachian Mountains, until the end of the war when Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed. Drawing on the voices of the women who lived it – women now in their 80s and 90s – the author rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of American history from obscurity. Reviewer: Rebecca Howard, a Tulsa City-County Library readers’ librarian at Zarrow Regional Library and Your Next Great Read library service co-creator.
April 7 • “The Aviator’s Wife”
by Melanie Benjamin
For much of her life, Anne Morrow has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire
father and vibrant older sister. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City where she meets Col. Charles Lindbergh, who sees in Anne a kindred spirit, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. Despite her own major achievements – she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States – Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness. Reviewer: Diane Seebass, former adjunct writing instructor, Tulsa Community College; associate fiction editor, Nimrod International Journal.
April 21 • “Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and
Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race
Around the World” by Matthew Goodman
On Nov. 14, 1889, Nellie Bly, crusading young female reporter for Joseph Pulitzer’s World newspaper, left New York City by steamship on a quest to break the record for the fastest trip around the world. Also departing New York that day and heading in the opposite direction by train was a young journalist from The Cosmopolitan magazine, Elizabeth Bisland. Each woman was determined to outdo Jules Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg and circle the globe in less than 80 days. Both women were talented writers who had carved out successful careers in the male-dominated world of big-city journalism. These trail-blazing women are brought to life as they race against time and each other in a dramatic race that would span 28,000 miles and captivate the nation. Reviewer: Connie Cronley, author and executive director of Iron Gate, a soup kitchen and food pantry in downtown Tulsa that feeds the homeless.
For more information on Books Sandwiched In, call the AskUs Hotline, 918-549-7323, or visit the library’s webpage, www.tulsalibrary.org.